Cheater, Cheater, Bestfriendeater
by nericearren
Summary: Artemis is with Wally...so why's she suddenly so into Robin? Could it be the heat? Or is something else in the works? Hopefully more than one or two chapters' hopefully more humorous as the story progresses. *edit*humor is not working for me-MAKING OUT AND ROBIN ANGST ALL THE WAY. Read for mindless kissing and a plot somewhere under the UST. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1--Heating Up

It didn't really matter that her boyfriend, his best friend, could show up at any minute.  
The kitchen was empty, and mostly dark with the exception of one light above the sink. It was well past midnight, and most of Robin and Artemis's team were already asleep, or else working their way there. It was August, when hot work was best done late, after the sun had gone down. They'd worked themselves hard, and now were dead to the world.  
All except two.  
Artemis had needed a glass of water, and Robin was...well, he was being Robin, lurking in the darkness. They'd bumped into each other, and, once Artemis was done with shrieking and then mentally reassuring Miss Martian that everything was OK, they struck up a conversation. This in and of itself wasn't odd; the couple had talked often, in the past few months, growing closer than ever. Nobody thought this was odd; but then, nobody knew the truth, because both parties were exceptionally good at hiding things.  
"Mmm." Artemis couldn't help the moan that emitted from her mouth. Robin pulled back, grinning. "Shh." he whispered against her lips. "They'll hear."  
She hated it-hated how one word from him made her shiver, how he just had to look at her and she couldn't jump into his arms fast enough. He was like candy, and she was a greedy child. She wound her fingers through his hair and tugged him back to her. He pushed her back against the sink, obliging. One of his hands brushed her hip, the other wound around the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. Hot as it was, even at night, their bodies pressed together.  
Artemis couldn't remember when the trysts had started, when they had decided to embark on a journey of mutual insanity. Their first kiss; that she remembered. Hot and sweaty after a mission, jammed in the back of the Batmobile, she'd initiated it that time, not that he'd been complaining. And there had been Batman, smirking into the rearview mirror.  
Artemis stopped trying to recall the past as Robin's lips left her mouth and wandered down her neck. "If you give me a hickey, I'll kill you in training tomorrow." she hissed, unable to believe that her capacity to speak was still intact. She felt him smile against her skin, heard a ghost of that awful, enchanting, wicked laugh, and felt him nip her, just out of spite. She gasped, anyway-just a little gasp, by no means and admission of guilt, but he laughed for real, anyway. She covered his mouth with her hand, panicked. "Weren't you the one afraid someone would hear?"  
He nibbled at her hand. She pulled it away.  
He looped his fingers through the belt loops of her jeans, bringing her back to him and going in for another kiss. "Wait." Artemis mouthed, stopping him with her hands. She fiddled with the edge of his mask, which, somehow, he'd kept in place during their makeout session. "I want to see."  
"Artemis-"  
"Robin."  
He surrendered. She slowly peeled off the mask, setting it carefully on the counter before taking his face back in her hands. He made as if to back away, but she looped one of her legs casually through his and around the back of his calf, leaning against the sink for balance. She traced the skin under his eyes with her thumbs. "Blue." she breathed, and then he was kissing her again. She didn't fight it, this time, as he lapped at her lower lip, breathed into her open mouth, dived into a deep kiss like he was intent on drowning. She kept one hand on his face while the other wound around his neck, her nails digging into the nape. He was the one to moan, this time, pushing her back against the sink again, more severly, crushing her between his body and the stone. Artemis wasn't complaining as she tightened her arms, feeling like she could never get enough. He played with the hem of her shirt, dancing up and down the exposed portion of her back, leaving her wondering each time if he'd go farther or not. She wrapped her other leg around his waist, and he slid them to the floor. It wasn't the most comfortable position Artemis had ever been in, with her head propped up against the cupboards, elbows on the hard linoleum, but with Robin kneeling over her, his body pressed even closer to hers by gravity, she wouldn't do anything different. He kissed the hollow at the base of her neck, and nuzzled at the neck of her shirt.  
A clatter jolted them both out of their stances.  
"Anybody here?" Wally asked, with a full mouth.  
"We fell while practicing sparring." Robin hissed in Artemis's ear, as she pushed him off of her. "Sparring in the kitchen is really stupid!" she snapped back, at full volume.  
"Well then, attack me somewhere else, next time!" Robin snapped back, throwing Wally a mock exasperated look. Artemis got to her feet, brushing herself off, and smacked Robin on the butt on her way out. "Oh, I will." she threatened, and winked behind Wally's back. 


	2. Chapter 2--Cooling Down

The weeks went by, lazy and slow. "Thank God-it's so much cooler here." Artemis kicked her legs in the air, then sat upright. She and M'Gann were stretched out on a beach towel by the bay, watching the boys play in the ocean. Normally they'd both be out playing with the boys, but M'Gann wanted to tan like "normal Earth girls do", and Artemis was having...woman problems. "It wasn't so bad in the Cave." M'Gann said placatingly, and Artemis rolled onto her stomach to properly glare at the Martian. "You come from one of the hottest, driest planets in the solar system. Of COURSE you wouldn't think it was 'so bad'. But it was death for the rest of us!"  
"Speaking of death, can you get me a bottle of water? Like, now?!" Artemis looked up at Robin, who was out of breath and looming over her. She held the bottle of water near her hip, laying on her side, just out of his reach. "You're dripping on me, hot rod." she snarked, and he moved, scowling and holding out his hand. She gave him the bottle. "Thanks." he said, smirking suddenly. "I'm just DYING of thirst." He sprinted off towards the surf. Artemis glanced at M'Gann, who was checking out Connor in his swimsuit. The Martian wouldn't notice a bulldozer taking out the cliff they were adjacent to, now.  
"I'm going to take a walk to the snack bar. I think I'm thirsty, too." Artemis announced, barely waiting around for her friend's distracted nod before sprinting off down the beach. Suddenly, she couldn't wait to see Robin.  
She reached the cave in the cliff just before him, and when he arrived, she threw herself into his arms. "Ohmigosh, that was torture." she moaned, her lips finding his in a desperate kiss. He seemed to feel the same way, ditching the bottle of water and his sandals at the entrance to the shallow cave and pulling her to the very back, where it was certain they wouldn't be seen or found. Only someone walking down the beach, staring directly at the spot where the cave should be, would be able to see them, and with all the seaweed hanging over the entrance, they could be any passionate couple needing some private time.  
Robin pushed her into the soft sand, straddling her waist, and she pulled him down to her, nipping at his upper and lower lips before sliding her tongue between them and losing herself. She was thinking crazy, half-lucid, half-distant things about how it was like the seas and the tides and maybe he was the moon-only she should be the moon, because she was Artemis, goddess of the moon and virginity...only she wouldn't be of virginity for long-  
Artemis froze, her whole body going stiff. Robin pulled back, too, his hand sliding out from beneath her swimsuit. The look on his face mirrored hers. He held up his slightly bloodied fingers in wonderment and disgust. Artemis would have been mortified that he caught her on her period if she hadn't been so shocked at herself.  
"What are we doing?" Artemis asked, horrified.  
Robin just shook his head, falling clumsily backwards and scuttling in a crab walk away from her. He looked as panicked as she felt. "I was just-I was thinking how hot you looked in that bikini, and out in the sun-"  
"The water coming off you like you were some kind of god-I had to be with you-"  
They broke off and stared at each other.  
"I'm with Wally." Artemis said, half firm, half panicked. "I'm with Wally, and-oh, Lord." she pressed her hand to her mouth. "I'm such an IDIOT! What were we THINKING?!"  
"Maybe we weren't." Robin said seriously, and then reached for his sunglasses, also discarded in the sand. His face went chalk white. "I showed you my identity. Why the hell did I show you my identity?!" his voice rose. More out of habit than anything else, Artemis shushed him. He glared at her. "Why are we being quiet?!" he asked, voice still louder. "Why are we doing anything that we should hide?! Why did we do this, to our best friend?!" His last words were a shout, but still no one came. Artemis thought, briefly, that for all their mutual paranoia, it might have been just as effective for them to NOT try to hide. Nobody seemed to be interested.  
Artemis realized, with a sickening feeling, that it was because their friends trusted them. Wally trusted them. No one would ever suspect that Artemis and Robin, two of the most plutonic and trustworthy people on the team, had just been one layer of latex away from losing it, on the beach, less than ten yards from where their friends played in the waves. No one would even consider them doing such a thing, least of all themselves.  
Artemis felt sick. She tried to clamp a hand over her mouth, but her body took over, instinct rolling her onto her knees, hands bracing herself as she retched. The smell of blood and sweat was still ripe in the small space, and now it was joined with vomit. Again, Artemis would have been humiliated, if she didn't have other things on her mind. Absently, Robin crawled over to her and held back her hair, rubbing her back as she got rid of their lunch of hot dogs and chips. "I feel disgusting." she moaned when she was done. OK, maybe those 'other things' weren't so pressing, after all.  
"No offense, but you smell disgusting. I might be sick, myself." Robin said, some of his old humor returning. Nobody would be giving him any Prince Charming prizes anytime soon. Artemis wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Not what I meant." she grunted.  
"I know." he said quietly. "I don't feel so hot, myself. Well, I do feel hot-um, because it's summer, not because of you-well, yeah, a little because of-but, I'm not coming on to you or-I mean, I WOULD, but-oh, screw it, Artemis; what I mean is, no matter how hot I might think you are, or how much I wanted to kiss you since I saw you in that stupid Gotham Prep uniform, you know that I would NEVER in my right mind make a move on my best friend's girl, right?" he clutched at her shoulder, maybe to reassure himself as much as her. Artemis brushed his hair away from his eyes, then caught herself, and they inched away, going back to not touching. "I know." Artemis affirmed. "And YOU know how much I love Wally...right?"  
"Right." Robin's expression was hard, resolute. Artemis had seen it before on missions, or right before he suggested a plan he knew no one would approve of. It was his game face, his Bat mask, the expression that said everything and nothing all at once. Stone. "So we're on the same page now. And this won't happen again." he fixed Artemis with a look, as if it were HER fault. Without thinking, she let her hackles rise, scowling. "Of COURSE it won't! Don't get all high and mighty on me, Baywatch! This was as much your fault as mine!"  
Robin stared at her, then said, slowly, awfully, in what might as well have been the Voice Of God; "Did you just call me Baywatch?!"  
Artemis blanked. "Ohmig-I mean, you were-and we-I was thinking, swimsuit, and-" She stood up abruptly. "Never again." she declared, more angry with herself, now. "And I mean it. We're going to pretend this never happened, and forget about it, and be normal again, and we are NEVER going to be alone together again."  
Robin didn't have time to reply as she ran out of the cave, brushing aside the seaweed and disappearing.  
She pounded down the beach in the opposite direction as her friends, feeling queasy. Kissing Robin; that was one thing. Easily explained away as lust, or something like it. In Artemis's family, physical closeness was as common as mud, and just as valuable. Anyone with half a brain who knew her-who knew her sister-would know that, for them, things like kisses and touches, they were given away like loose change. Using her body to get things was one of the many tricks Artemis's father had taught her-though not one she often practiced. It would be so simple to dismiss her flings with Robin as just such a circumstance, with no feelings behind the things they'd said, things they'd done.  
But calling him by the nickname she'd reserved for her boyfriend felt like ten times the betrayal. 


	3. Chapter 3--Moving Forwards

Artemis ran until her sides felt like they would split, but still, she didn't want to stop. If this was her penance, then she was getting off easy. The magnitude of what she'd done was just now crashing over her like the waves on the beach. Her friends were yelling and laughing in the distance, and, closer, she knew that Robin was sitting in an empty, stinking cave, wondering what on earth he was doing; but here, everything was quiet, except for the rush of her breath, and she was alone.

She stopped, finally, when her friends were mere specks on the horizon. Now there was nothing but water, no condemning Robin, no trusting Wally, nobody but screwed-up Artemis and her tangled thoughts. She sank onto the sand, and contemplated actually going to the snack bar, because her throat felt like sandpaper, and she was almost willing to go back to the cave if it meant she could have some of Robin's water. Vomit was still tacky in her mouth, and she stuck her tongue out in self-disgust.

Three days ago-this morning, even-she'd been flying on top of the world, and now she was sitting on the beach, sand working itself into unmentionable parts of her swimsuit, thirsty and sweaty and shivering with cold and sick, sick, sick. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them close. Her head hurt terribly. She missed Robin-heck, she missed Wally. She missed anyone who would ease up this weight of guilt.

However, Artemis was used to bearing difficulties alone, so she pulled herself together and lurched down to the sea, her legs wobbly from running so long. Half falling into the surf, she scrunched her eyes shut and dunked her head under, opening her mouth wide and gargling salt water. It was disgusting, but at least it got rid of the tang of sick in her mouth. When she surfaced, spitting and gagging, hair streaming around her, water threatening to leak into her eyes, and just generally making her feel like a drowned cat, there was someone sitting on the beach, laughing at her.

"Hardy-har-haha-it's the archer girl; not shooting arrows today, oh no, but shooting hearts all the same-ha!" the boy giggled like a maniac. Artemis wiped the last of the water from her eyes and looked at him, incredulous. She'd never been a fan of this particular villain. He grinned at her. "Heya there, archer girl. What'cha diddly-doing? Busybusybusy, are you? I see you being busybusy-saw you being busybusy with Boyfriend, only he's not Boyfriend, now, is he? Would Boyfriend like it if he knew archer girl was screwing around? Would he? Would he?"

Klarion had never made much sense to Artemis, but now she was seriously beginning to doubt his sanity. He sounded like Gollum on steroids. He was also, in addition to his suit, wearing a rubber ducky floatie. She cocked an eyebrow. It was hard to be afraid of someone attired in such a ridiculous way. "Who'd be telling him? You? Because, really, you sound a couple waves short of an ocean, at the moment."

Klarion cackled as if this way the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "Good one, archer girl-good one! Nonono, not me; can't take credit, not me-I didn't do it; no, notme, notmethatdidthespell, nono-"

"What? What spell?" Artemis demanded, standing up immediately. Water streamed down her legs, and she felt her pad swell as it suffered from over-moisture. Being a girl sucked, at that moment, but she wasn't one to let small discomfort distract her from...whatever Klarion was. He rocked back and forth, still laughing, his eyes crossed. "Love spell, duh!" he chanted it over and over. "Love spell, love spell, love spell...spell broke by blood." he pointed none-to-discreetly at the small amount of blood that ran down Artemis's leg with the ocean water. She immediately plunged back into the surf, scowling, face red. Klarion laughed again.

"Whatever you did, undo it before I rip your head off!" Artemis yelled. "Can't!" Klarion sang out, clapping his hands and making like he was strangling his ducky. It reminded Artemis of an episode of the Brady Bunch she'd seen once. "Didn't cast; can't remove!" he waved a finger at her and tutted.

"Well, who cast it?!" she snapped, fed up.

"Patience! Patience! Ooh...fun! Funfunfun!" Klarion giggled. "FUN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Seconds later, Artemis had to shield her eyes from the spray of sand Wally kicked up as he ran over to check on her. She still got the entirety of the Gobi Desert in her hair, but it went well with the salt, so she didn't complain. "You OK, babe? I heard yelling." he said, crouching by the water's edge. Artemis composed her face. "Wally."

"Yeah, beautiful?"

"Get me my towel. I'm going home." she gave him a look that brooked no objection, just for good measure, and, when he was back with both her towel and her day bag, she couldn't hold back her smile. He really was the perfect boyfriend. She had the immediate urge to spill everything as she wrapped her towel around herself, explaining her "woman problem" in as few words as possible, blushing with embarrassment, even if it was a cover story. Funny how she'd thrown up in front of Robin with no qualms whatsoever. With him, she might as well be with her own self; whereas with Wally she was always saying the wrong thing or sticking her foot in her mouth.

Scolding herself for her relapse, Artemis reminded herself that she must only feel that about Robin because of the...what had Klarion called it? Love spell? Something like that. Now there was a worrying problem, and one that would have to be rectified, but it was so sunny out, and all the team were so sympathetic as she left, and Robin went so tense when she said she was going home alone with Wally, that she left it be for the moment. According to Klarion, it had been broken by her blood, anyway, so the problem was gone.

Artemis knew she was lying to herself-until someone died or went to jail, the problem was never over-but, sitting comfortably in Wally's air-conditioned car, motoring home as fast as allowed, her every request granted by her larger-than-life boyfriend, she couldn't bring herself to care. Not just yet-she was too tired. Her legs, head, and stomach all hurt, there was salt and sand caked into her too-long hair, she could feel a round of cramps coming on, she was still thirsty, and on top of all that, the awful taste of vomit wouldn't leave her mouth, no matter how many times she gargled with a bottle of water or downed some kind of food or drink.

Artemis's conversation with Klarion wouldn't leave her mind. Even as months passed by, and school started, and she became preoccupied with keeping up in her classes and keeping away from Robin, she still couldn't forget that awful day at the beach. Klarion had given her the impression that someone else was pulling the strings, and he was just reaping the rewards-which might explain his seeming madness. Creatures like him fed on chaos and disharmony, both of which Robin and Artemis had been begging for with their love game. He wasn't crazy-just overfed. Artemis bit her lip, tapping her pencil absently.

"Ms. Crock? Are you intending to attend to this class or not, this afternoon?" a teacher's voice drifted into her revery, and she snapped to attention. In truth, she didn't even know what class she was in. "Sorry?" she offered meekly.

"It was my fault." Dick Grayson said, in a husky voice that was slightly different from his usual tone. He sounded like he, too, wasn't getting enough sleep. "I challenged her to a video game war last night and we ended up staying up later than we meant. She's just tired-please excuse her."

Artemis twisted in her seat to glare at him, as did his friend and would-be girlfriend, Babs. He ignored them both, eyes on the teacher, who seemed torn. "Very well, Mr. Grayson." the teacher said, after a tense staredown. "For the moment, that is acceptable. But if either of your performance in class begins to suffer because of these 'video game marathons' again, I will be talking to your guardians-both of you." she returned to lecturing on what Artemis gathered was Physics.

As soon as the teacher's attention was occupied, Artemis slid back two seats, into the empty desk next to Dick's. "What was that for?" she hissed. She knew who he was, of course-since that night in the kitchen when she'd taken off his mask, she'd known-but because of the spell or whatever it was, it had never quite sunk in until now that Robin was in half of her AP classes.

"Yeah, you're welcome!" he hissed back. Babs was now glaring at the both of them.

"Oh, you know what I mean!" Artemis snapped, glad that they were in the very back of the classroom. "We aren't talking to each other, remember?"

"We _weren't_, until you sauntered over here to yell at me." he growled under his breath. The teacher turned, arching an eyebrow, and they both sat up straight, the picture of the model students they pretended to be. Satisfied, she went back to science.

"I'm not _yelling_ at you-my voice is at a perfectly reasonable level." Artemis retorted, as soon as it was safe. Dick rolled his eyes. "Don't be so _petty_." he said, scoldingly. "It doesn't become you."

"_Become_ me? Get off your high horse, Grayson."

"I believe you just knocked me off."

"Grow _up_, you pre-pubescent freak-"

"Like you're not waiting to be all over me at the first-"

"Wait." Artemis held up a hand, stalling the bickering. "I have to tell you something." Rapidly, quietly, she told him about her encounter with Klarion. Robin's face grew more and more surprised-and displeased-as she went. "And...you didn't tell me this before because...?" he arched an eyebrow. Artemis shrugged. "Embarrassment. Belief that it was over. Reluctance to bring up the subject again. Plus, I really have no desire to talk to you at all."

"Why come over here, then?" he snarked, like he had the upper hand.

"To tell you that I don't need you defending me in front of everybody!" Artemis sat bolt upright and clamped her mouth shut as the teacher looked over. Too loud.

Dick reached over and covered her hand, resting in her lap. "Artemis." he said softly. "No matter what goes down between us, between you and Wally, we're still teammates and friends. And I _never_ leave a friend in the lurch."

Artemis's stomach turned over. The spell had been supposedly removed-so why did she feel so affectionate towards the boy sitting across from her?


	4. Chapter 4--Falling Backwards

Artemis took a bite of her ham sandwich and tried to ignore Dick, sitting across from her and wrestling with the hot lunch of the day, which was supposed to be spaghetti. "I think it just grew a limb." he griped, making a gruesome face. Artemis had to stifle a laugh. Spell or not, he was adorable.

Dick got ahold of the tendrils of spaghetti, giving up eating them and settling for spooning them into a neat pile in the center of his tray and picking at the stale bread that came with the meal. "OK, so, run this by me again." he said, for the second time. Artemis sighed, recounting the story for a third time. She was getting rather good at it. "Klarion the Witch Boy appeared to me on the beach and told me, in a roundabout way, that the reason we were all over each other was because someone-not him-put a love spell of some kind on us except it was broken because of my...blood...which I totally don't understand but that's magic for you, and...yeah. That's pretty much it."

Robin frowned, gnawing on his bottom lip. Artemis, remembering herself doing the same thing, looked down at her sandwich. Feeling self-conscious, she handed it to him and slid his tray over in front of her. He looked at the sandwich doubtfully. "Come on," Artemis said playfully. "I didn't slobber all over it-and even if I did, we've swapped spit before."

It was funny, talking about it in the open like that, with no worry of Wally or anyone else overhearing, but Artemis felt justified in talking about their affair, now that they had an excuse. Dick, however, just looked more uncomfortable, and Artemis felt embarrassed. "Sorry. That was out of line."

"Kind of." he acknowledged, but he bit into the sandwich anyway. "Mm. Not too much mayonnaise."

Artemis had slightly more success with his spaghetti, and they ate in silence for a time. The lunch pavilion of Gotham Prep was sprawling, airy, full of wrought iron cafe tables and glass windows. The rain outside lent a lushness to the overly green grounds, and Artemis felt like she was eating in a conservatory out of the squares of CLUE.

"So...the first thing to do is head over to my house, use Br-Bats's computers to look up all the registered malignant magic users in the area." Robin said, after a few long moments, licking mayonnaise off of his fingers in a way that made Artemis want to drag him into the nearest storage closet and not let him out until the fourth period bell. _Spell_, she reminded herself firmly. _Just the remnants of an illusion, nothing more_. _You're not actually in love with Dick-you don't even "want" him. He's a kid, for crying out loud._

"Why not the HQ?" Artemis asked casually, belying the thoughts swirling in her still-confused brain. She was trying not to think too hard about her feelings, not when the possibility of them being tampered with was still in the picture. She and Robin were now in the middle of a mystery-plenty of time later to sort of what was real from what was fake.

"Too easy for one of the others to find what we're up to." Dick said promptly. "Won't Batman know what we're up to, and sooner, if we use one of his computers?" Artemis hissed. He held up a finger. "Yes, but if we use the HQ computes, then our teammates _and_ Bats _and_ possibly the rest of the League will know we're up to something. This way minimizes the number of people with their nose in our business down to one. Not only that-my house has better snacks." he grinned impishly, and Artemis's hormones went crazy again.

"Right." she shoved a large mouthful of spaghetti into her mouth to avoid saying anything stupid, only to realize that she'd yet again done something gross in front of him. She looked up furtively to see if he'd noticed, to find him staring straight at her. She slurped as fast as she could, and the strands of spaghetti flipped around, as spaghetti is apt to do, flicking her chin and spraying sauce everywhere. One drop landed on Robin's cheek. Artemis reached for a paper napkin, hurrying to wipe it off. "Sorry-I don't know why I just seem to...fall...apart..." her hand fell off his cheek.

"You have sauce on your chin." Dick whispered, leaning forward. Artemis felt herself freeze as he leaned forward and licked the sauce off of her chin. It should be disgusted-she should be weirded out-but the feeling of his tongue moving across her skin just turned her on. She exhaled. Robin brought his face up to hers. "Hey." he whispered. Artemis couldn't help herself; she closed the gap between them effortlessly, pressing her lips against his familiar ones. "Mmm." he mumbled, pushing against her, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She grabbed his shoulders, her fingers digging into the material of his stupid jacket that covered way too much of his slim frame, and leaned forward, cursing the table that separated them-

"Um? Dick? What the _hell_?!"

Artemis and Robin broke apart, staring at each other for a second. Dick's face was flushed, not at all his usual composed expression, and his lips were swollen tantalizingly. Artemis darted forward and pressed another kiss to them before someone clamped a hand on her shoulder and dragged her away. "Ex_cuse_ me!" Babs Gordon said in exasperation. "Talking, here! Are you guys even...what on _earth_ is going on, Dick?"

Artemis's gaze drifted from Robin to his tall, redheaded friend. _What is it with Dick and redheads...?_she wondered distractedly. Then she realized that her elbow was in her plate of spaghetti.

"OK, be. Really. Quiet." Dick hissed to Artemis, jimmying with the lock of the back door of Wayne Manor. It wasn't her first time there-most of the Team had visited the imposing Manor at one time or another-but the last time, they'd used the front door. "Why are we-" Artemis began, but he clamped a hand over her mouth, shaking his head ominously. They crept across the threshold and through the wine cellar beyond. At the door of that room, Robin paused, pressing his ear against the worn, and slightly damp, wood, listening.

"Trying to avoid someone, Master Dick?" an ancient voice spoke out of nowhere, and both Artemis and Dick jumped, yelping.

"Alfred!" Dick snapped. "Were you _spying_ on us?!"

"_I_," said the butler with dignity, "was picking out a bottle of cognac for the Master Bruce. _You_ were the one spying."

"OK, OK, fine-just don't tell Bruce I brought Artemis over, alright?" Robin hissed. Alfred cocked an eyebrow. "I would not presume to lie to my employer." he said stiffly. Dick bit his lip, grabbing Artemis's hand tightly. Tremors went through her body, but she employed her strictest self-discipline and focused on looking as pathetic as possible. Alfred's expression softened. "_But_," he allowed. "If I do not _see_ the Master, I suppose I cannot tell him..."

"Great, Alfred, thanks!" Robin chirped, and, without another word, dragged Artemis out of the room and into the kitchen, where he dashed up the servants' staircase and led her down a hall to the back door of his room. "I thought you-" Artemis began, but he shushed her again, not allowing her to speak until they were safely cloistered in his room, door locked. "Sorry. But my room is the only place without security cameras and with lead-lined, soundproof walls, aside from Bruce's own room." he explained.

"And...why would Bruce be so lax in surveillance?" Artemis asked, reluctantly. Robin's grin was pure evil. "He tried to bug my room. I didn't let him. As for his room...one word." he paused for effect.

Artemis cocked an eyebrow, impatient.

"Catwoman." Dick said, straightfaced, and they bust out laughing.

Artemis looked around his room, which she hadn't been in before. It was a smaller, more cluttered version of his room at Mount Justice-full of half-done gadgets, broken Battoys, and clothes of a debatable level of cleanliness. His comforter was dark blue; walls dark green. She flopped onto his bed without delay, sinking into the soft, cool fabric. After her day, it felt wonderful.

"Um. Right." Robin looked uncomfortable. Again. Artemis sat up on her knees. "What?" she asked, though she thought she knew. He gave her a look. "Get off my bed before I lose my perfect self-control and molest you."

"Your self-control isn't so perfect if you can lose it." Artemis pointed out, climbing off the bed as Robin walked over to his computer-an old dinosaur model that Artemis was willing to bet ran faster than the latest Apple model-and plunked down on the moon chair in front of it. "I've got to be honest, I was expecting a swivel chair, something businesslike and broody." she said, regarding the chair. Dick gave her a look and swung an arm at her, knocking her off-balance so she tumbled into his lap.

"Whoops. There goes self-control." he whispered, lips brushing her neck. Artemis pushed him away. "Computer. Magic. Concentrate. Remember?"

Robin's arms, around her waist, tightened. He pressed his face into the place where her shoulder met her neck. "I have such a headache." he mumbled. "That's funny..." Artemis whispered. "So do I..."

Dick pulled away. They stared at each other for a moment, blue eyes meeting gray. Artemis got up, and Robin let her slide out of his arms as easily as Vaseline, tapping away on the computer once she was gone.

She went through his drawers, filched a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and changed rapidly in the corner. Fortunately, Dick was too focused on his work to focus on what she was doing. After ten minutes, he removed his hands from the keyboard, flipped over the chair, and gestured for her to take the seat. "Keep reading through that list-write down anyone who seems likely. I'm going to change-I'm dying of heat."

Artemis did as he asked, but lost interest after a few names and started writing down other strange things she'd noticed.

_Headaches when thinking about spell._

_Seemingly stronger in the heat._

_Klarion not powerful enough to break?_

_New magician on scene._

Artemis underlined the last item four times, thoroughly, just ask Dick came back and peered over her shoulder. "Working hard?" he asked sarcastically. Artemis rolled her eyes and flipped the pad of paper over onto the desk. "Look-" she pointed one red fingernail at the screen. "You have forty on record, yes? Fifteen are in Belle Reve, another twenty are in minor jails across the country, and the remaining five are either dead or under League surveillance-they can't sneeze without the League knowing. The only free one is Klarion-but he said himself that he isn't responsible for the spell."

"So, now we're taking the word of a criminal?" Dick asked skeptically, coming around the chair and plopping himself down between her legs, perched precariously on the edge of the chair. Artemis pulled her legs up, moving over so they could sit side-by-side. She was trying to avoid contact with him as much as possible, something that got increasingly difficult as he leaned over, his arm and the sleeve of his t-shirt brushing her chest as he grabbed the pad. She wanted nothing more than to curl up with him in the chair and stay there, but, once more, she reminded herself that it was just a passing phase. Another headache bloomed as she blocked the feelings.

"Klarion's pretty good at bragging-I think he'd admit if he was guilty," Artemis argued, "Plus, you didn't see him. He looked really screwed up-I'd say drunk, if I didn't know better."

Dick tapped his bottom lip with the pen he took from Artemis. "There's an idea..." he started scribbling on the pad. Artemis put her hand over his, getting his attention, and she smiled evilly. "I have an idea, too-let's continue what we started in the cafe-" she was cut off by his mouth.

"Mmm." Artemis couldn't stop the contented purr that started in her throat as she wrapped her arms around his neck, turning so she could straddle him in the chair, their chests pressed as close together as their lips. It seemed to take an enormous effort, but Dick pushed her away long enough to gasp out, "Spell."

Artemis tumbled to the floor. "Sorry." her face flushed, and she rubbed her forearm sheepishly. Robin leaned on his knees, taking her hands in his. She could see her own want reflected in his eyes. "Artemis." he said seriously. "I love you. I have since before this stupid spell. And, believe me, there is nothing I want more than to make out with you at every opportunity. But, God help me, if you tempt me again, I will thrust a Batarang into your stomach without a second thought."

The look on his face was truly scary, and Artemis was reminded of who she was messing with. She covered her mouth. "Sorry..." she said again, not even sure why she was apologizing. Robin's face cleared, and he got up, walking over to the other side of the room to catch his breath. "I think that we should track down Klarion, find out what's going on." he said, half to himself. Artemis, still sitting on the floor, could only nod. She knew, of course, why he threatened her-if they didn't kick into gear soon, there was a greater chance of their problem being found out by the others.

But it still gave her shivers.


	5. Chapter 5--Coming Clean

It took Dick less than a second to find the list of Klarion's known haunts, and he and Artemis split up to search them. Artemis was fairly sure that, when she'd called to let her mother know she'd be eating dinner at Wayne Manor, she hadn't received permission to boom tube in and out of Gotham like a jack-in-the-box, hunting down an insane spellcaster who was her only lead in one of the strangest cases she'd ever been embroiled in. Still, what Paula Crock didn't know wouldn't kill her. Artemis crashed God-knew-how-many "secret" lairs, but still didn't find a thing. Robin, who she was keeping in contact with via communicator, was having just as little luck.

"Look, it's almost eight o'clock, and I'm beat. Mom will be expecting me home anytime." Artemis said finally, crouched outside the entrance of an old warehouse, yet another hideout, this one in Gotham. "Let's just call it a-"

"Artemis?"

Artemis couldn't reply, as she was staring down the barrel of a flare gun.

"Drop the comm link. Now." the owner of the gun said, menacingly. Artemis obediently crushed the small device in the palm of her hand, letting the pieces drop on the ground, then said, "A flare gun? Really?"

Her sister stowed the gun away, tucking it into the waistband of her underwear. "It was all I could think of." Cheshire shrugged. Artemis stared at her. Her sister was dressed in only a tank top and underwear, which wouldn't have been too odd, if they'd been, say, anywhere other than the back alley outside of an abandoned arms' warehouse. "What...are you doing?" Artemis asked hesitantly, not really wanting to know. In any rate, she was willing to bet that Robin was going to show up soon, having lost her on the communicator.

Jade smiled, and a shiver ran down Artemis's spine. "Oh, you know, this and that." her sister said airily, waving her hand in an unconvincing attempt at nonchalance. "Hanging out."

Artemis peered over the older girl's shoulder, trying to see through the open door behind them. "Who's in there with you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Cheshire taunted, stepping back so she was blocking the doorway with her body. Artemis scowled. Leave it to her sister to be having rendezvous with her boyfriend-of-the-month inside a lair of crooks and drug smugglers.

Someone came up behind Jade, then, and a tall, redhaired man put his arms around her from behind, nuzzling the nape of her neck. "Baby doll, we haven't finished yet." he purred, sounding way to intimate to be decent, and Artemis's jaw dropped.

"_ROY?!_" she cried, at the same time as Robin, who dropped down next to her as he yelled.

The four of them all stared at each other until Jade broke the silence.

"Well, this is awkward."

"You mean to tell me that you've been _sleeping_ with my _sister_?!" Artemis flipped out, a few minutes later. Cheshire was getting dressed behind a few crates, and Robin was dispassionately picking at the makeshift bed the couple had cobbled together. "I go on patrol with you! How could you _omit_ such a detail!" she went on.

Roy folded his arms. While he and Artemis weren't exactly at odds, anymore, they also weren't the best of friends. He made it clear that he didn't think he needed or wanted her permission. "How, exactly, would you propose I bring that up?" he asked, sarcasm tinting his sharp words with humor. "I'll take the east perimeter tonight, and, by the way, I've been doing the nasty with your sister in between searching for my original self...?!" He spread his arms wide in an overly dramatic gesture of_ what-can-you-do?_ Artemis scowled. "No one asked you to be crass, Roy. I guess honesty just doesn't come naturally to you, does it? Suppose you can't help your _programming_." she taunted.

"What's _your_ excuse, then?" he growled, stepping forward. Robin was between them, suddenly, one hand on Roy's chest, the other grabbing Artemis's arm. "OK, kids, settle down." he said grimly. "It's been a long night all around-we get it. Artemis, come on."

"Word is, you two are looking for Klarion." Cheshire called, leaping over the stack of crates she'd changed behind and landing neatly next to Roy. Artemis and Dick turned back to the pair, identical expressions of curiosity on their faces. "We are." Artemis allowed cautiously. She had long since given up trying to figure out how her sister knew just about everything about her. Jade grinned. "Well, then, sis-I think I can help you out."

"And you would do this...why?" Robin asked, suspicious. Artemis rolled her eyes, propping one hand on her hip. "Obviously out of the goodness of her heart, right?" she said sarcastically. Jade shook her head, her long hair swishing and hitting Roy in the shoulder. He didn't look like he minded, but he caught her hair and twisted it into a fancy knot that he tied with an elastic from around his wrist. The affection between them was almost palpable. Artemis and Dick exchanged shocked and slightly grossed out looks as they realized this. "Artemis, Artemis, Artemis. When will you learn to trust me?" Jade cooed, after stepping away from Roy.

"The last time I trusted you, I ended up flat on my ass in a vat of silicone that I still smell every time I wash my hair. Nobody trusts you, Jade." Artemis said flatly. Jade winced, and Roy looked indignant-and a little ashamed. "I'm aware of that, dearest sister. But, if you must know-" now she was the one looking sheepish- "-I have business with him myself."

Dick, naturally, put it together first. "You guys, too?"

"Across the board, villains and heroes alike are dropping their weapons and picking up condoms." Roy said matter-of-factly, spelling out what no one wanted to say. "None of them will admit it, and most of them are too good at hiding for anyone else to notice."

Artemis guessed, "So everybody thinks it's just them that feel so...um..."

"Horny." Robin supplied, and she blushed, angling her body even farther from his. She was tense enough to snap, all of a sudden. It took everything she had to not succum to the urge to pounce on him and show him the true meaning of horny.

"We were...researching...this-well, we think it's a spell." Jade explained half-heartedly. She didn't look so thrilled about what was happening with her sister. Robin rolled his eyes. "Tell us something we don't know. How'd you guys figure out it wasn't just you?"

"I've been keeping tabs on Artemis. I couldn't help but notice a few..midnight rendezvous." Jade said smoothly.

"I caught Kaldur with...never mind." Roy suddenly was very busy with his bow. Artemis would have liked to pursue that particular subject, but she let it drop in the interest of time. "Two people, three if you count yourselves-but you guys are always like this-and you figure out there's some kind of mass love spell going around?" she asked skeptically.

"You figured it out with just one. And tell me there wasn't always something between you and the bird boy." Jade demanded. Artemis turned beet red. "Never mind!" she snapped. "Just take us to Klarion-and no stops at a love nest along the way, this time!"

"Sure, princess." Jade sneered. "Would you like a coffee with that?"

"Easy." Roy soothed, slipping an arm around her shoulder. "Maybe it would be better if we all do work together-track Klarion down, force him one way or another to lift this spell, slap him in jail, and come home with no one the wiser. They'll just figure they were on the rag or something."

"It's not Klarion." Artemis told them. Dick shot her a look-he wasn't big on telling people everything he knew(it was a Batman thing)-which she ignored. "We think it's some other spellcaster, because-"

"What other spellcaster? All the others are accounted for." Roy demanded, scowling.

"Either way, we need to get to Klarion." Robin snapped. "So let's all just try to get along until then, all right?"

"Someone's cranky." Jade observed. "Artemis not putting out enough?"

"JADE!" Artemis cried, her anger and humiliation at equal levels.

"Or is she pushing you too far?" Jade went on slyly. "Because, you know, girls in are family are known for going all the way."

Artemis buried her face in her hands. It was going to be a very long night.


	6. Chapter 6--Keeping Secrets

Artemis had resolved to think about Robin, and, namely, kissing him, as little as possible; not to mention his words about loving her; but this was hard to do when they were both crammed in the back of a carrier plane the size of a dwarven safe box.

"Was this really necessary?" Artemis said crankily to Jade, who was flying the breadbox. Her sister didn't reply, just flipped a switch that raised a glass panel between the miniscule cockpit and the smaller "bay". "Aah!" Artemis yelped, as she was pressed even further backwards. "Ouch!" Robin complained, trying to work around her, as he was stuck between her and the wall. She squeezed to the left, and he to the right, and somehow they ended up facing each other, faces inches apart, her legs around his waist and his on either side of her. "This is awkward." Dick mumbled, but he grinned while he said it. Artemis looked away, determined to not throw herself at him. She'd lost enough dignity as was, and his threat was still fresh in her mind. What kind of boyfriend threatened to stab a girl, anyway?

Oh, right. He wasn't her boyfriend.

Still, it was pretty severe.

As if to make things even worse, her phone began to ring-the obnoxious tone she'd set just for Wally. "Ohcrapohcrapohcrap." she moaned, scrabbling to answer it. As far as Wally was concerned, she was just finishing up supper and dying to talk to him. She had to answer it, or he'd go running to her house-and the explanation would just be awkward. Still, he had the most awful timing.

"Hey." she finally got the phone up to her ear, sounding a little more breathy than she would have liked. Dick smirked. She pulled a face at him.

"Hey, babe." Wally said. His voice was slightly scratchy, but audible, which was better than expected in a small plane flying over the Atlantic. Artemis had wanted to zeta tube to France, but to do so they would have had to beam up to the Watchtower first, which would involve more messy lies, or else the embarrassing truth. So, the black market plane it was-though "plane" was a bit of a stretch. "Rust-bucket" would be more accurate.

"What's up?" Wally asked, oblivious to all of this pain. "Nothing much." Artemis tried to sound preoccupied-which she was-so he'd get the hint and let her go. Being Wally, he didn't.

"Oh. Cool. So, you don't mind if I zip on over, then?" he sounded like he was already running. "NO!" Artemis shouted, then winced. Robin chuckled, and she reached out and clamped a hand over his mouth. It was too late. Wally's breathing slowed, like he was stopping, and he said, "Everything OK? You have someone over or something?"

"I-yes! Yes, yes I do-um...yeah, there's this cousin of mine who's over and she still thinks I'm with my dad, so it wouldn't be a good idea for, y'know, _Kid Flash_ to come over when I'm supposed to be a villain...y'know..." Artemis was having a hard time lying convincingly with Dick breathing against her hand. He'd reached up to grab her wrist away, but ended up holding on. His eyes were bright, and his lips moved against her palm in ticklish words that she couldn't make out. He licked her palm. "Hey!" she hissed, holding the phone speaker away from her mouth. Dick just laughed, more quietly this time.

"Well, I could just come as Wally." Wally said. "I wouldn't give it away, I promise."

Dick kissed her wrist, nipping the skin like he was a vampire. "_Stop it_." Artemis snapped, then put the speaker back to her mouth. "No, Wally, no-that wouldn't be good. I'll just-I'll see you tomorrow, OK? OK-I have to go. Bye."

"Bye-" Wally just had time to say before she hung up. The phone dropped to the floor and Artemis went as if to strangle Robin. "You idiot! What was all that for?! You totally threw-" she cut herself off. She was too close.

Dick's smile was pure evil. "Maybe I was jealous." he said softly, and grabbed her by the waist. There wasn't much room to maneuver in the cramped bay, but it hardly mattered. He kissed her, hard, leaning his full weight against her upper body so that she was pressed against the curve of the bay wall. "Stop-" Artemis had time to say before he kissed her again. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he kissed her cheek, her neck, her collarbone. He pulled at the neck of her t-shirt, urging it lower as he lapped at her skin. She pulled his head up so she could look him in the eye. "I said, st-" She was trying to do the right thing-really, she was. But as she slipped the mask off of his blue eyes, the right thing seemed to muddle in her mind. Maybe the right thing was to kiss him.

She did kiss him, not roughly as he had, but just as intensely. She sucked at his lower lip and smiled when he gasped, slowly pushed him back, gaining ground in the unspoken fight they were having. She met his tongue and forced it back, gave him just enough to make him reach for her when she pulled away. In control now, she pushed his face away. "Stop it." she said, as firmly as she could manage. "Batarang, remember?"

Her words seemed to wake him up, and he pulled back. He reached for his mask and slapped it on, his expression darkening. He folded his arms, and pulled as far back against the wall-away from her-as possible. Artemis did the same. It hurt, feeling like he was mad at her, but the phone lying forgotten on the floor reminded her where her responsibilities lay. The phone was smashed, by either her or Robin-there was symbolism in that, but she couldn't fathom what.

"Landing in Paris, France!" Cheshire sung out, and Artemis forced both Dick and Wally out of her mind.


	7. Chapter 7--Screwing Around

Paris, France. If someone had told Dick Grayson that he would land in Paris, France, at a quarter-to-ten on a school night, kissing the girlfriend of his best friend in the back of an illegal carrier plane piloted by the world's deadliest assassin, well, he would have put them in Arkham. Yet, there he was, awkwardly curling away from Artemis, squeezing his eyes shut behind his dark mask and balling up his limbs to hide just how much he wanted her. His whole body was tense, and he was ecstatic to tumble out of the tiny plane and onto the concrete. He looked around, automatically assessing his surroundings, as Batman had taught him. They were on a rooftop that was just long enough to land such a tiny aircraft on. The roof overlooked Paris, with a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. Well, actually, Robin reconsidered, it was more of a half-assed view obscured by the corner of an industrial building. But "spectacular" sounded better.

Cheshire shouldered a small backpack, hitting Roy in the chest as she did so with a smirk. He glowered at her before pulling her into a deep and highly indecent kiss. Robin felt himself blush, and saw Artemis's cheeks flush as well. "Quit it!" she snapped at the lovers. "I said no monkey business! We have to get to Klarion."

"What the heck is he doing in Paris, anyway?" Dick asked, trying to get his mind off of Artemis. Truthfully, he'd more than once indulged(during particularly boring physics lectures)in fantasies of sweeping Artemis off to Paris and having dinner on the Eiffel Tower, all the cliches in full force, but this was not how he'd imagined their trip going. For one thing, they'd been alone, in his imagination.

"Why not Paris?" Cheshire said, casually draping her arms around Roy's chest. He looked disgruntled, but not entirely displeased. Robin had never seen his friend look so-relaxed. Normal. Sure, he snarled at Jade and snapped at her wrist, but the next second he caught her by the waist and was kissing her again. It was obvious that their affection for each other went deeper than some love spell. Dick glanced sideways at Artemis, wishing it was the same for them. Truth, he'd been in love with Artemis for so long, he couldn't even remember when he'd realized it-but she didn't feel the same. For her, he was simply a close friend, practically interchangeable with Zatanna. When she'd kissed him, it had felt too good to be true; naturally, it was. He'd been all too eager to blame his attraction to her on the spell; but he knew he hadn't been magicked into kissing Artemis...he didn't think. For that one moment, back in the cave at the beach, when he'd pulled his red fingers out of Artemis's swimsuit bottoms, he'd fully grasped the insanity of his situation, and the impact of his actions with her. He'd resolved to pull away, to pretend like he wasn't in love with her, but then...well, stuff had happened, and he didn't think that, spell or no spell, anything he said or did to try and justify that "stuff" wouldn't cut it with Wally. Maybe Robin had been spelled, once, to love Artemis, but it had faded long ago, and he was still in love with her.

"Yo. You with us?" Artemis smacked his shoulder. He jolted out of his revery at her touch. "Yeah. Yeah. Fine. What were you saying?" he asked, and she rolled her eyes. He loved how she couldn't hold back her smirk while she tried to look angry at him. "_Roy_ was saying," she corrected, "That the last location we have for Klarion is Rue D'Argent."

"Street of Money. Nice." Dick translated, and she smacked him again. "Show-off. Just because you're top in French at G. P."

"I'm top in German, Vietnamese, and Spanish, too." Robin bragged, teasing her. He didn't mention Maltese, Mandarin, Creole, Farsi, and the other fourteen or so languages he had base knowledge of. He was, after all, just joking around.

"Now who's monkeying around?" Jade demanded. Artemis had the grace to look guilty, and she and her sister darted to the edge of the roof, launching into a contest of who could get to the ground faster-points for whoever took the most dangerous route. "Be careful!" Roy and Dick yelled at the same time, and then glanced ruefully at each other. "She's got me wrapped around her finger." Roy admitted.

"Same." Robin bumped fists with him as they proceeded down the building by the fire escape. "So, what do you think of all this?" he asked of Roy, who shrugged. "I hope Jade marries me, because I'm about 83% sure she's pregnant after all that-"

"You can stop right there." Robin held up his hand warningly. "I don't want to hear. And you mean to tell me that with all those fancy pockets and compartments you have, you don't have a single glove?"

"Is that another Batman lesson?" Red Arrow asked. "Never leave home without your utility belt full of condoms? How, exactly, does that help you fight bad guys? Unless the rumors about you and Poison Ivy are true..."

"Shut up." Dick shoved him as they stepped onto the ground, Artemis and Cheshire waiting for them. "It _took_ you long enough." Jade said in a testy voice that sounded just like Artemis's. "We were having guy talk." Robin said, and Roy punched him in the shoulder. "Ow!" he rubbed his shoulder.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Let's go." she spun on her heel, stalking off down the street, Artemis on her heels. Red Arrow and Robin trotted after them, exchanging exasperated looks.

They, naturally, got lost. "You are awful at directions." Roy griped, and Jade hit him. It was roughly ten minutes later, and Artemis was starting to look tired-not that she'd admit it. Wordlessly, Dick went to stand next to her, slipping his arm around her waist and letting her lean on him. She resisted at first, but eventually let all of her weight fall onto him. He hadn't meant it to be a sexual gesture, but from the way her cheeks flushed, he realized that his mindless act of friendship was affecting her. He lowered her to the ground, sitting himself, and avoided her eye.

"_I'm_ awful?!" Jade snapped. "I didn't see you giving better directions! You just give me some random French name and expect me to find my way in a city that _can't. Even. Speak. English_!" she kicked him with every last word. He barely flinched. "You've been given accolades by the Light and the Justice League both, been trained by the best of the best, men and women alike fall over themselves to work with you, you're that good; and you're telling me you can't find one measly street in Paris? I think you need to go back to kindergarten!"

"Well, you-you need to go to-to-" Jade stopped what she was doing, which was pounding on his chest, and they started to kiss again.

"This is really getting tiresome." Artemis sighed. Robin shook his head. He had to agree, though it would have been easy for he and Artemis to fall into the same trap. The difference was that Jade and Roy simply accepted their relationship as it was, not worrying about messy details like allegiances and feelings. They just screwed each other and got on with their life.

He was a little jealous. It would be so easy to have the same no-strings-attached relationship with Artemis-if Wally wasn't in the picture.

Robin gulped and stood up, not liking where his thoughts were leading. Sometimes he scared himself, like when he'd threatened Artemis in his room. Sometimes, his actions seemed beyond his own control; it was like his body knew what he had to do and say, and did and said it with no interference from his reason or feelings. He would pull off incredible stunts-or act like a total jerk.

Cheshire and Red Arrow broke apart for air and looked around, seeming to realize they weren't alone. "Now, I know this is the City of Love," Robin said tiredly, "But you two do know that you're getting a lot of weird looks."

"Let's go." Roy said abruptly. "We don't know where we're going." Artemis moaned, and fell against Robin, her chin banging his calf. He swayed sideways, laughing a little as he tried to keep balance for both of them. He reached down and took her hand, hauling her up. "Now probably isn't a good time, but I have a GPS in my u-"

"-utility belt." Roy finished, rolling his eyes. "Geez, what _don't_ you have in there?"

"Condoms." Robin said, straight-faced, as he dug for the GPS. Jade burst out laughing, only to be silenced by a glare from Red Arrow. "What?" she defended herself. "It was funny."

With the help of the navigation system, they found themselves on the Rue D'Argent in no time. It was a long, tree-lined street full of small cafes and thrift shops and tinier apartments on the second floors of these establishments. Artemis sighed. "I hope there's an address." she said to Roy, who looked unsure of where to go. Cheshire moaned. "I'm starting to get bored." she complained. "Let's take a pit stop for some-"

"Jade!" Artemis snapped.

"French fries." her sister completed smoothly, and smirked. "What were _you_ thinking, Arty? Don't have such a dirty mind."

"It's the fourth building down." Robin said quickly. He had to admit, even he was getting tired. They had to find Klarion, and get some answers, and then...what? Some fighting, he hoped, because no matter how confusing his life-or relationships-got, for some reason having a little spat with some bad guys always cleared things up. Artemis and the others on his heels, he climbed up to Klarion's hideout and hoped that everything would work itself out so easily.


	8. Chapter 8--Going Crazy, Coming Sane

Stepping into the flat, the first thing that hit Robin was the smell of chlorine-acrid, bitter, chasing away his fatigue in one whiff and replacing it with a massive headache, worse than the ones he'd been getting back in Gotham. The apartment he'd entered was spotless-so clean and white, it made his eyes hurt. "What is it?" Artemis put her hand on his shoulder, trying to see past him, and he stepped aside to let the rest of the party in.

There was no furniture, save a white block of sorts, on which was perched a girl about Artemis's age, petting Klarion's hair like he was a dog.

Robin understood the sorcerer's actions, then-the witch had gone entirely crazy. And who wouldn't, being kept by that girl?

The girl looked up, and her eyes spoke of thousands of years of knowledge that no teenager possessed. Her hair was bright purple. Roy snarled. "Guys, I think I know this girl." he said.

"I've fought her before." Robin said briefly, not really wanting to go into the details as Artemis shot him a curious look. "Well, I slept with her." Red Arrow said frankly, and Cheshire hissed, "Why _her_?! Honestly? Why not, I don't know, Black Canary or somebody?!"  
The girl rolled her eyes. "Fascinating as this all is, I'll have you know I'm not very pleased." she drawled, running her fingers through Klarion's hair absently.

"Go and tell your demonic boyfriend that his tricks are getting old." Robin ordered. "And remind him of what Batman did the _last_ time he screwed with our heads."

Artemis looked between her friends and the girl. "Am I missing something?"

"I was in Belle Reve with her for a time." Cheshire said, sounding a hair away from attacking the girl. "I already said everything I can in polite company." Roy said, and Jade hit him on the arm. Nobody seemed too alarmed about the strange girl, except Robin, whose whole body was tense. "Batman and I encountered her a few months before the team was formed." he said to Artemis. "Her name's Spellbinder-she's an illusionist. Her specialty is making people do things they would otherwise die before doing."

"Is that why I did Roy?" Jade sounded amused, now, and Robin guessed where Artemis's severe mood swings came from. Red Arrow scowled, then suddenly yelled, "GET DOWN!" and tackled her, the two of them thudding to the floor. "What was that for?!" Jade yelled, as best she could under his bulky form. "I only just saved you from a freaking _laser_!" Roy snapped breathlessly, struggling to his feet.

"What are you talking about? I don't see any freaking-Daddy?!" Jade drew back sharply, her eyes wide. Robin inched towards Artemis and grabbed her hand. "Artemis, she's starting to separate her illusions so that we all see different things. No matter what you see, feel, or hear, you have to remember it's not real." he said.

"Right." she said as he turned to look at her, and she hit him full across the face.

Robin reeled back. "What was that-" he started, before Artemis flew at him, kicking his stomach. "Oof!" he doubled over and, as he was off guard, she punched him in the side, slamming his head against the suddenly concrete wall. Robin literally felt his head split open, and gushing blood flowed over his eyes. His brain fell out of his skull, hitting the floor with a thwack-

And then everything was clear. Artemis was nowhere near him; she was across the room, flailing her hands wildly as if to ward off some flying thing. Roy was ducking and darting and shooting arrows at thin air. Jade was engaged in an argument with the wall, which was not, Robin saw, anything close to concrete. In the center of it all, Spellbinder sat cross-legged, Klarion's head cradled in her lap, her hands raised as she conducted invisible scenarios. He'd only have one shot at this; he had to make it good.

He pretended to be chasing after his "brain", that he was still under her spell, and as soon as he could, he ducked and somersaulted out the door, rolling around the corner out of her sight. He quickly emptied his utility belt, searching for something he could use. Aside from bombs, lockpicks, and yesterday's lunch-a granola bar-he couldn't find what he was looking for. "Dammit." he muttered through gritted teeth, as Red Arrow smashed through the wall beside him. Robin winced on his friend's behalf, and then laid hands on the object he was looking for. "Yesss!" he pumped a fist in the air, automatically going to high-five Kid Flash before remembering that his best friend was on the other side of the world; no doubt tucked safely into bed; and had no idea that Robin was galavanting around with his girlfriend.

Robin left the guilt for later and gathered his courage. He hated Spellbinder-hated how she could break through his careful reason and logic, how she was the enemy of everything he and Batman fought for. He compartmentalized the hate, slid it into place next to guilt and horniness, and clenched his fist around the object, lowering his head and charging into the room. Spellbinder turned, her eyes locking onto his, but he tore his gaze away before she could conjure another, stronger, illusion, and slammed his body into hers.

"Oh!" she was taken by surprise, and for a second her hold on his friends was broken. They all looked confused, and Robin took advantage of the moment of peace to slap the bandanna in his hand around Spellbinder's eyes. He stuffed the other object he'd taken out-a condom-in her mouth.

Roy started to laugh. "Are you insane, man?"

"You're the one ducking imaginary lasers." Robin retorted, rolling off of Spellbinder and snapping a pair of handcuffs on her. "OK, someone page the League, because I am sick of dealing with this chick."

"Is it over?" Artemis asked, confused.

"Yeah, once she became blind and mute her powers went bye-bye." This was the moment Dick was dreading-the moment that Artemis would stay away from him for good. There was no spell drawing her back to him now; but if he was careful, she'd never know that he had a certain immunity to Spellbinder and his feelings were genuine.

Unless, of course, she remembered his confession in his room.

"How come I still want to make out with you, then?" Artemis demanded. Jade smirked. "Well, I'm back to hating Roy with a vengeance and all, but, damn, boy, can you perform." she sidled up to Red Arrow. "What say we take advantage of Paris while the night is young?"

"It's one in the morning." The redhead pointed out. Cheshire rolled her eyes. "Like I said. Come on, lover boy-you owe me from earlier." she dragged him out the door.

Robin turned away from Artemis, not wanting to answer her question, and commed the League via the buckle of his utility belt. "Robin to Batman; just caught Spellbinder on Rue d'Argent, Paris, France. Requesting beam-" Halfway through his request, he found himself, Artemis, and Spellbinder on the bay of the Watchtower. "Creepy." Artemis murmured.

"Not really." Robin said to her, helping her haul Spellbinder up and down the hall to the main bay of the tower. "There's always someone keeping an eye on us-I thought you would have known that."

"Too well." Artemis grumbled, and they left it at that.

Next came a very long two hours, in which a lot of yawning and yearning for bed was done by the two teens, and a lot of questioning and scolding done by Batman and the rest of the League. A red-faced Robin had to explain the particular details of Spellbinder's cast, including the trysts between himself and Artemis, which he skimmed over. Batman cocked an eyebrow, but didn't object to his sparse omissions. Afterwards was a scanning by Doctor Fate to confirm their theory and another by Dr. Strange to make sure. Robin thought they would get to go home after that, but instead they had to write up an official report of the incident, provide contact information for Roy and Jade, and promise that they next time they wanted to run off to Paris in the middle of the night, they'd talk to Paula Crock first, who was at home very worried about her daughter.

_Then_ Black Canary shepherded them off to the medical wing to make sure none of them had been harmed in any way during the mission; and, though Artemis's splinter and Robin's stubbed toe were _extremely_ life-threatening, she let them go after that. They beamed down into Gotham at just past three-thirty in the morning. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, but the dark, shadowy buildings of Gotham sheltered them from it. Only the steadily lightening sky tipped them off to the beauty to come.

Without a word, they both began to climb up the nearest building, and sat on the edge of its roof, watching the sunrise. It was as cliche as the Eiffel Tower, but Robin wasn't complaining. As tired as he was, he knew there were still a few things to clear up.

"I have something to tell you." Artemis blurted out, at the same time as he. After a few minutes of awkward "you-go-no-you-can-go-no-you", Artemis said, with a bright red face, "I haven't been under any kind of love spell since that moment in the cave with the blood. It really did break the spell...for me, anyway."

Robin couldn't believe his ears for a second; then he started to laugh. "I'll do you one better." he said, pulling himself together. "I was never under a spell. I'm practically immune to Spellbinder since Bats and I fought her. Batman had Zatara spell us both against her magic."

Artemis stared at him in disbelief. "Wait. So both of us-ohmigod..." she started to laugh as well. Both of them rocked with waves of mirth until they were too tired and sore to continue, and then they fell back to look at the ever blue-ing sky. Artemis wiped tears from her eyes. "I've been so stupid." she said softly. "Dick, I love you."

"Love you too-you pain in the ass."

"Hey!" she rolled onto her side, whacking him on the arm. He whacked back, and they wrestled for a second on the roof before stopping, holding onto each other's forearms and staring into each other's eyes. Slowly, they broke apart.

"Wally." Artemis winced.

"Wally." Dick nodded, and she pulled her knees to her chest. He wanted to touch her-wanted to hold her-wanted to tell her again how much he loved her, but he stayed where he was. He couldn't break Artemis, and in the end he didn't have the guts to tear apart the best thing that had ever happened to his best friend.

"I want to say that we'll find a way." Artemis whispered.

Robin couldn't help his grin; it was too habitual, a ritual to cover the pain. "I know, honey. I'd like to say it, too. I'd like to say something totally crazy, like let's go right now, just walk with the sun at our backs, forget everything here, and go _Wally who?_ to whoever asks. I'd like to say that I don't care about the fallout and being with you is better than any friendship; because all of that's true, Artemis."

"But then there's real life." Artemis finished. She knew him well. "There's the team to consider and our friends' feelings, and there's our parents and our backgrounds-"

"Not to mention the age difference-"

"The _slight_ age difference. Barely worth mentioning."

"Old lady."

"Shut up."

"You're forgetting, also, the craziness of your family-"

"Have you seen _yours_?"

"And Wally."

"Yeah. Wally."

They stared at each other. "I don't want to argue with you." Dick blurted out. Artemis cocked an eyebrow. "Is that what this is?"

"No. This is us going in circles and blaming our cowardice on Wally."

Artemis grinned wickedly, all of a sudden transforming back into the girl who'd been kissing him less than four hours before. "Cowardice? Is that a challenge, Grayson?"

"Only if you-" he was cut off by her lips.

Which was not at all unpleasant.


	9. Chapter 9--Getting Serious, Epilogue

It didn't matter that her ex-boyfriend, his best friend, could come in at any moment. It didn't matter that they still had to lurk around in the dark, hide their relationship from those who still didn't know that Robin and Dick Grayson were one and the same; and from those who would want to get at Robin through the ones he loved. None of that mattered, not when he was nuzzling her neck and pressing her against the fridge. Her arms were wound around his neck, fingers laced in his hair, tugging every now and then to remind him of his place. She was the older one, after all.

He nipped her lower lip, and she forgot about being in charge and melted, pulling him closer and running her hands over his back and sides. He moaned and ground his hips against hers. As their tongues met, she found his hand and they entwined their fingers together at her side.

It was August, when hot work was best done late, after the sun had gone down. Artemis and Dick had met with the intention of getting most of that hot work done.

It hadn't been easy, breaking the news. In fact, Artemis had handed in her resignation from the team two hours afterwards(after a particularly nasty fight with Wally), Robin five seconds behind her. They weren't exactly dropping everything and leaving with the sun at their backs, but they weren't sticking around for long, either. Where they were going, they didn't know; but they'd go together, because...well, because they were Robin and Artemis.

Artemis pulled away from him. "You think we should have...you know..right here?" she whispered, and Dick's laugh was pure evil. She loved it. "Just don't tell anyone." he muttered, and went for round two.

Just around the corner, Wally covered his mouth in a vain attempt to suppress the anger and tears that welled in equal amounts in his stomach. He felt vile, soured-he'd finally opened himself up, finally admitted to loving Artemis, and a few short months later she'd left him for a new boy toy. He wished he'd never looked her way. He wished-he wished-he wished he'd never stopped thinking she was a heartless bitch, because obviously his first impression of her had been correct. There was no true love, here; only mindless sex and betrayal. Sick to his stomach, Kid Flash sped away, unable to take anymore. He wasn't heartbroken; he didn't think he even had a heart anymore.

He pitied the man who thought he loved Artemis.


End file.
